The present disclosure relates generally to adjustable seats for use in vehicles. More particularly the present disclosure relates to a mechanism for adjusting the position of the front portion of the seat base.
Generally, it is known to provide adjustable vehicle seats. Further, it is also known to provide an adjustable seat base or cushion of a vehicle seat in a first row seating application as well as in a single occupant vehicle seat such as a “captain's chair.” The angularly adjustable base or cushion allows an occupant to obtain a more comfortable seating position. Generally, a tilt mechanism is known for providing seat base front portion (or lip) angular adjustment. One example of a known seat adjuster is shown in FIGS. 29 through 31 wherein a conventional, bell crank type adjuster device is shown for use in adjusting a portion of a vehicle seat base. The generally known adjuster device of FIGS. 29 through 31 includes a generally L-shaped, bell crank bracket connected to a cross-tube and a motor. The motor includes a transmission and a driver member connected to one end of the bell crank bracket. As the driver member of the motor moves in one direction it moves one leg of the bell crank member causing the cross tube to pivot and thereby moving the other leg of the bell crank bracket. The other leg of the bell crank bracket is connected to the front portion of the seat base cushion of the vehicle seat. The adjuster device of FIGS. 29 through 31 is designed to adjust the front portion of the seat base cushion of the vehicle seat. The bell crank design and method may be used for independent, front and rear lifts or for entire seat lift through a 4-bar linkage design. Other methods include using a pinion and sector lift for independent front and rear lift, or complete seat lift through a 4-bar linkage method. When the complete seat lift through a 4-bar linkage method is used, it is desirable to have, in addition to the lift, an adjustable thigh support. In all known cases with an adjustable thigh support, the adjustment is accomplished by using one of the standard lift motors and gear boxes, which are over designed for the actual strength and lift capacity requirements for a thigh support adjustment.
There remains a significant and long-continuing need to provide improved adjusters and mechanisms that provide greater performance and competitive advantages than compared to the known vehicle seat adjuster systems. In particular it would be quite advantageous to provide an improved adjuster for a vehicle seat that has lower mass and requires less space while providing suitable performance for use in a vehicle seat application.